Understanding Cancer Data

Incidence (New Cases)

Incidence refers to annual or average annual incidence. Annual incidence is the number of new cases of cancer diagnosed during a calendar year. Average annual incidence is the number of new cases diagnosed during a specified number of years.

Mortality (Death)

Mortality refers to annual or average annual mortality. Annual mortality is the number of deaths from cancer during a calendar year (Note: the cancer was not necessarily diagnosed in the same year). Average annual mortality is the average number of deaths during a specified number of years. Mortality data reflect the underlying cause of death as recorded on the death certificate.

Rates

Cancer rates from the ICC represent the number of new cases of cancer per 100,000 people (incidence) or the number of cancer deaths per 100,000 people (mortality) during a specific period [see example below]. Typically, incidence rates are calculated based only on the number of invasive cancer cases that occurred during a period and do not include in situ cases. Invasive cancer is cancer that has spread beyond the layer of tissue in which it developed and is growing into surrounding, healthy tissues.

Example. If a county’s lung cancer incidence rate is 40.0 cases per 100,000 people that means 40 new cases of invasive lung cancer were diagnosed for every 100,000 people. If the county’s population is 25,000, then an incidence rate of 40.0 means 10 new cases of invasive lung cancer were diagnosed in that county during that year.

Rates provide a useful way to compare cancer burden irrespective of the actual population size. Rates can be used to compare demographic groups (males have higher lung cancer rates than females), race/ethnic groups (African American males have higher prostate cancer rates than white males), or geographic areas (Indiana has higher lung cancer incidence rates than California).

Age-Adjusted Rates

Older age groups generally have higher cancer rates than younger age groups. For example, in Indiana, more than 60% of new lung cancer cases occur in those ages 60 and older. As a result, if one county’s lung cancer incidence rate is higher than another, the first question asked is whether the county with a higher rate has an older population.

To address this issue, all mortality and incidence rates presented in this report, unless otherwise noted, have been age-adjusted. This removes the impact of different age distributions between populations and allows for direct comparisons of those populations. Additionally, age-adjustment allows for a comparison of rates within a single population over time. An age-adjusted rate is not a real measure of the burden of the disease on a population, but rather an artificial measure that is used for comparison purposes.